LAST weekend saw notable firsts for a pair of European stallions, one of whom has been standing in Ireland for the past few years.
High-class sprinter Iffraaj (by Zafonic) is going to stand at Dalham Hall Stud in 2015, having spent the first eight years of his career at Kildangan Stud, and this relation to Cape Cross (by Green Desert) and Diktat (by Warning) notched up his first Group 1 classic winner last Saturday.
Turn Me Loose, who was bred by George and Maryanne Simon, won the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas by three lengths at Riccarton Park, a month after he narrowly took a Group 2 contest over seven furlongs at Hastings.
The New Zealand-bred colt is trained by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, he is out of Indomitable (by Danehill), and so represents the same sire-broodmare sire cross that produced the ill-fated dual Group 1-winning juvenile champion Chriselliam.
Indomitable was unsuccessful in a short racing career, her dam Kwan (by Sadler’s Wells) is a half-sister (or could be called a ‘sister-in-blood’) to the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile winner Fairy Heights (by Fairy King), and Turn Me Loose is the fifth Group 1 scorer for his sire.
The other first last weekend was achieved by the Arc hero Rail Link (by Dansili).
OFFSPRING
He stood at Banstead Manor Stud for seven years, is due to join the team at Haras de Cercy in 2015, and Epicuris is the first of his eight stakes-winning offspring to win at the highest level.
The Criquette Head-Maarek-trained juvenile, who was bred by Juddmonte Farms, extended his unbeaten record to three with victory in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud over 10 furlongs in heavy ground in France, adding to his win last month in the Group 3 Prix de Conde over a furlong shorter at Longchamp.
Epicuris is the first foal out of the stakes-placed Argumentative (by Observatory), his grandam Discuss (by Danzig) is a listed-placed half-sister to the Group 3 scorer Dance Dress (by Nureyev), and he comes from the family of Group 1 stars such as Matiara (by Bering) and Sanglamore (by Sharpen Up).